Machine for the reduction of wood and other materials to paper-pulp



(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet l.

P. G. RITCHIE. MACHINE FOR THE REDUCTION OF WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS TO PAPER PULP.

No. 291,777. Patented Jan. 8, 1884:.v

INVENTOR.

3 SheetsSheet 2.

(No Model.)

P. G. RITCHIE. MACHINE FOR THE REDUCTION OF WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS T0 PAPER PULP.

No. 291,777. Patented Ja11.8, 1884.

INVENTOH .ATTEST. 6

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

' F. G. RITCHIE. MACHINE FOR THE REDUCTION OF WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS T0 PAPER PULP. No. 291,777. Patented Jan. 8, 1884.

FIG-HI- ATT E ST /ZZW/ZW Unirnn States I PATENT .-rricn,

FREDERIO G. RITCHIE, OF XVALLINGFORD, VERMONT.

MACHINE FOR THE REDUCTION OF WOOD AND OTHER MATERIALS T PAPER-PULP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 291,777, dated January 8, 1884. Application filed October 1,1883. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIC G. RITCHIE, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, doctor of medicine, temporarily residing at \Vallingford, Rutland county, Vermont, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for the Reduction of \Vood or other Material to Paper-Pulp, of

' which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to those grinding or reduction machines employed in the disintegration of wood for the manufacture of pa per-pulp.

My improved machine consists of a grindingstone, (fixed so as to be incapable of horizontal movement,) and having means for vertical adjustment for the purpose of taking up wear; a rotary feed or wood boX located above said stone and supported upon the upper end of a shaft, by which it receives its rotary motion, and which runs in a stuffing-box in the center of the grinding-stone; a follower occupying the top of the feed-box above the wood, and having means regulated by a suitable valve for maintaining a constant pressure of the follower upon the wood; a water-pipe set within grooves in the stuffing-box and gland, and having at its upper end an annular head or supply aperture for supplying water in a continuous sheet to the grindingsurface, and a stone curb or trough surrounding the stone and projecting above the grinding-surface, to receive the pulp and conduct it off by means of a suitable spout.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood, I will proceed to describe it,

with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which- Figure I represents in side elevation my improved machine for the reduction of wood or other material to paper-pulp. Fig. II is a vertical section of the machine, cutting the follower and woodbox in the plane indicated by the lines 5 5, Figs. IV and V. Fig. III is a plan view of the same, the pressure-cylinder being omitted. Fig. IV is a plan view of the fol lower, taken from below. Fig. V is a plan of the feed or wood box. Fig. VI is a detail View of the water-supply apparatus to alargor scale.

1 is a shell or casing, preferably cylindrical in shape, mounted upon any suitable base, 2. Ihe grinding-stone 3 is held within and prevented from horizontal movement by the block 1, inserted between the casing 1 and the stone, and forming the bottom of the pulp-trough, and thus serving the double office of guide for stone and bottom of the pulp-trough. \While thus restricted in horizontal movement, it has freedom of vertical movement within the guide 1. The stone 3 is supported upon any suitable number of screw-standards, 4L, fixed so as to be incapable of rotary movement in the base of the stone. Such standards screw into an equal number of gear or sprocket pinions, 5, which have rotary bearing within a single frame, 6, or a number of brackets supported from the frame of the machine. An upright shaft, 7, bearing a hand-wheel, 8, upon its upper end, and upon its lower end a gear or sprocket wheel, 9, serves to rotate the pinions 5 through the medium of a gear or sprocket chain, 10, and thus by simultaneously raising the screw-standards 1 to force up the grinding-stone when necessary to take up for wear of the same.

'11 is the cylindrical or otherwise formed shell of the feed-box, within which the wood to be disintegrated and reduced to pulp is packed. Said feed-box is provided with a central sleeve or core, 12, having any suitable number of radiating arms, 13, integrallyformed with and serving to support the shell 11. The

wood-box proper, 14, is preferably square in cross-section, for convenience in packing the wood, and is included within the cylindrical shell 11. The vertical driving-shaft 15, to which rotary motion is transmitted by any suitable means, has bearing within a stuffingbOX, 16, placed axially of the grinding-stone, or within the base of the machine, and is keyed at its upper end to the core 12 of the feed-box, serving, when rotated, to impart rotary motion to said feed-box, and forcing its contained wood or other material in contact with the grinding-stone 3 at a high rate of rotation, thus tearing or grinding off the fibers of the wood or other material in suitable con. dition for the manufacture of pulp therefrom.

In order that the wood or other material contained in the feed-box may be forced.

pressure, I employ a follower consisting of a number of blocks, 17, fixed to a head plate or frame, 18, and at such distances asunder as to allow the passage between them of the supporting-arms 13 of the feed-box. The follower is made of such size as to occupy the entire space of the wood-box, and is guided in a vertical path by the walls thereof. Arranged vertically above the follower is a cylinder, 19, having apiston-rod, 20, packed within heads thereof, and connected at its lower end to the follower by ball-and-socket joint 21, so formed as to give freedom of rotary motion to but prevent relative vertical motion of the follower. Supply and exhaust pipes 22 are let into the cylinder-heads for the purpose of supplying water, steam, or other fluid to one or the other side of the piston, according to whether it is desired to force the follower downward in or to lift it from the feed-boX. Both pipes 22 may connect with the same supply-pipe, having a suitable four-way cock, by which the supply and discharge of both pipes are simultaneously effected at the will of the operator.

WVith similar machines as heretofore constructed it has been found impossible to render sufficiently constant the pressure of the follower upon the material within the feedbox, and the consequent force of contact between such material and the face of the grinding-stone. A consequent result is the production of slivers of irregular size. To enable the equalization to a nicety of such pressure, I apply to the upper head of the cylinder a valve, 23, having weight or spring 24, by which the regulation of hydrostatic or steam pressure on the upper side of the piston is effected.

For elevating the follower I preferably employ, as stated, hydrostatic or other fluid pressure supplied through the lower cylinder-head; but I may employ, in lieu thereof or in conj unction therewith, other lifting apparatus, for the application of which the upper end of the piston-rod may be provided.

with a ring, 25, as here shown.

To aid the reduction of the wood or other material to pulp, I apply water tov the grinding-surface by the following means: A supply-pipe, 26, provided with a valve, 27, for regulating the amount of water, is set within grooves in the outer surfaces of the stuffing-box 16 and gland 32, and discharges at its upper end into a flattened annular chamber, 28, having at top a number of perforations, 29, through which the water flows and impinges against the under concave surface of a saucer-shaped annular ring, 30, in such manner that the water will be forced out in a continuous stream from the circular aperture provided between the top of the chamber 28 and the ring 30. The aggregate area of the perforations 29 is made greater than the whole area of the circular opening, so that water will pass therethrough with considerable force. This arrangement of a reservoir-chamber having several supply-passages to the distributing-plate insures the supply of a uniform sheet of water surrounding the center of the stone. The distributing-head 28 30 is supported by means of rods 31, received into grooves in the flange of the gland 32, and, passing downward, occupy grooves in the stuffing-box, in which they are fastened, so as to be capable of ready removal, by means of screws. The under surface of the reservoirchamber 28, being at a constant distance from and immediately above the surface of the stone, takes the place of a bosonrboard.

For the production of a tight joint a rubber or gum gasket may be placed between the adjacent surfaces of stone and chamber. The pulp thus formed on the grinding-surface is thrown out toward the periphery of the stone, and suflicient clearance being allowed between the stone and bottom of the shell 11, it drops into the trough formed between the circular stone-curb 1 and the stone, and is conducted off by discharge spouts or pipes 33.

The head or nozzle 28 30 of the water-supply pipe is set, as shown, immediately below the core 12, which is supported therefrom by the shoulder 34 on the shaft, and said core is hollowed out or provided with a projecting rim or flange, 35, covering the discharge-nozzle and protecting it from injury by the wood of the feed-box.

Having thus described my invention, the following is what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a machine for the reduction of wood or other material to paper-pulp, the combination, with a rotary wood box or hopper, of a grinding-stone fixed as tohorizontal movement, a vertical driving-shaft fixed to said wood -box, and a stulfingbox within said grinding-stone, wherein the said shaft has bearing, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In combination with the grinding-stone and follower of a machine for the reduction of wood to paper-pulp, the water-supply pipe set in a groove in the stufling-box of the driving-shaft and gland, and adapted to supply water to the grinding-surface from below, substantially as set forth.

3. The water-supply pipe having annular discharge-head adapted to supply a continuous sheet of water to the grindingsurface, substantially as set forth.

4. The discharge-head consisting of a reservoir-chamber having apertures at top, and a concave annular plate above said chamber, adapted to receive the water and distribute it to the grinding-surface in a continuous stream, as set forth.

5. The combination, with the water discharge head and supply pipe, of the supportin g-rods for said head, received into grooves in the gland and the stuffing-box of the drivingshaft, as set forth.

6. In combination with the core 12,having IOU to paper pulp, the combination, with the grinding-stone, feed-box, and follower, of the cylinder and piston above said follower adapted to be operated by hydrostatic, steam, or other pressure, and provided with an automatic valve for regulating the force of pressure of the follower, as set forth.

F. G. RITCHIE.

Witnesses:

Oonu'rns KNIGHT, HARRY E. IiNIGH'L 

